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Airplane cast reunited

Yesterday some cast members from the superb 1980's Airplane! comedy were reunited and told some interesting stories about the film. Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Jill Whelen and Robert Hays all got together for a reminisce.

What do you mean you haven't seen it? Surely you can't be serious? - Now if that doesn't spark off something in your head then I don't know what will. Airplane! Is perhaps one of the funniest fillms of all time, really, of all time.

It's up there as my favourite comedy and it still makes me laugh to this day. A few years ago, after who knows how many viewings, my friend Stu pointed out something in the film, something we'd never seen before, and we cracked up all over again.

That's one of the beautiful things about the film is that the comedy is multi-layered. They don't rely on framing up one joke and delivering it, usually there's two or three things going on, and if they can fit something in the background to make you laugh, they will. There's not many pauses for breath here.

The video is hilarious -

"What is it?"

Well it's a recording of sound and vision which you can play back and watch at any time, but that's not important right now.

- Okay, I was sidetracked there, the jokes are hitting me thick and fast. It's great watching the MSNBC [Flash:Embed] recap on the plot, filled with jokes and clips too. Then we head over to the cast talking about the film, man they look old.

There are some great revelations about Airplane!, particularly when you realise that most of the cast were pretty serious and stand up actors, not the comedians that they appear to be in the film.

"I did more than turn it down - I read the script and threw it across the room...I said, `This is insane, and not only that, it's the worst taste I've ever seen.'"

When Leslie Neilson was asked about the "Shirley" line and whether he realised that was going to be a phrase that would be with him forever he said:

"The moment that it came out Howard Kotch came back and he says 'well I guess that's gonna be it, Leslie...'and don't call me Shirley' is gonna be with you'."

Kareem Abdul-Jabaar revealed that once when he was flying on a plane that had a large amount of crew flying with them, and he was pulled up to the cockpit to sit with them during take-off so that they could say they flew with Murdoch.

The video does descend into a little chaos at the end, and you do feel that the poor cast are being pushed around and paraded, but it's great seeing them together and hearing their favourite lines.

For me, I have to agree with Graves, my favourite line changes, but just now it's the exchange between Neilson and Graves that goes:

Rumack: Captain, how soon can you land?
Captain Oveur: I can't tell.
Rumack: You can tell me. I'm a doctor.
Captain Oveur: No. I mean I'm just not sure.
Rumack: Well, can't you take a guess?
Captain Oveur: Well, not for another two hours.
Rumack: You can't take a guess for another two hours?